BP Chats

Multiple choice question. Which of following is the best option for the Dodgers: A. Dump Andre Ethier and pay all of his salary; B. Dump Carl Crawford and pay two-thirds of his salary; C. Trade Matt Kemp, pay none of his salary and get a second-tier prospect in return; or D. Keep all three and hire a dispute resolution mediator to help Don Mattingly.(Fighting Sagehen47 from Greenville, SC)

How about E, trade Kemp and some salary, and get your new starting catcher? (Mark Anderson)

Soup starter: Matt Kemp to Cincy for Brandon Phillips. What needs to be added, and dare the Reds get bold and try Billy Hamilton at 2b, at least until Ludwick's deal is up, at which time they put Kemp in LF and BHam in CF?(DF from Wilmington, NC)

I think the Dodgers would have to kick in some money to make this happen and even though their pockets are deep I think the goal in moving Matt Kemp is to try to save money, not add another long term contract in Brandon Phillips. I suspect that the Dodgers are more likely to move Andre Ethier than Kemp and aren't simply going move Kemp for salary relief. It also seems that the Dodgers are going to try Alexander Guerrero at the keystone and if they do bring in a 2B will bring in someone more "marginal" to compete for the job.

The Reds priority is going to be to make Billy Hamilton comfortable both at the plate and on the field so I think it's unlikely they move him to 2B. That doesn't mean it's impossible, but the club seems committed to keeping him in the outfield for now. (Mike Gianella)

Over his last 18 games, Andre Ethier is batting .150/.239/.200. Do you bench him if you're Mattingly?(Aaron from Long Beach)

I don't think you can do much more than platoon Ethier right now, with Carl Crawford and Matt Kemp on the DL, but as the outfield gets healthier, Mattingly (and perhaps Ned Colletti) will have some difficult decisions to make. If Yasiel Puig keeps this up, it'll be nearly impossible to bench or demote him, and in that case, I think Ethier-despite his contract-might be the odd man out. (Daniel Rathman)

with the trade where the dodgers got adrian gonzales and carl crawford, what does that mean for yasiel puig. is it possible they try him out at third or will the dodgers try to trade eithier. in any case have you heard any rumors about puig's future.(temple from madison)

I actually thought about this at the time of the trade, temple, but with the financial reserves the Dodgers have now, I don't think they're terribly concerned about blocking Puig. The outfield does seem set for the long haul, barring an Andre Ethier trade, but even if the Dodgers ultimately must eat money to open up a spot for Puig, they may not think twice about it. And depending on Puig's development, that decision might be two years away. (Daniel Rathman)

Reports going out today that Dodgers are "open to trading" Andre Ethier? Why sign him to a long-term extension earlier in the season if this was going to be the end result?(jlarsen from chicago)

Well, when the Dodgers signed Ethier to the extension, they didn't know they would acquire Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez two months later. So that changed. Also, when healthy, Ethier has a skill set that a lot of teams could use. Sometimes signing a guy to a long-term deal can increase his trade value because potential partners know he won't walk after a year or two. (Geoff Young)

Thoughts on the reported 5 yr/$85 mil deal for 30 year old Andre Ethier?(Aaron from LB)

They had to lock him up; otherwise, the super-rich new Dodgers new ownership would sign him when he became a free agent. Wait, I guess that explanation only works when other teams sign their pending free agents.

I wouldn't really want Ethier for five years, and I don't think that's just because I have never adjusted to when Billy Beane traded him away at a time that I was very, very convinced that Billy Beane couldn't possibly make a bad move. The generous way of looking at it is this: There aren't going to be any good free agents anymore. There will be some, but very few, since everybody good gets locked up at even earlier ages and for even longer. So if there are no free agents, and you have to spend the money somehow, might as well keep the guy you like. (Sam Miller)

What do you think the Red Sox outfield looks like in opening day? On August 1st?(Carl Crawdaddy from The bottom of the BAY)

If you're out? Ross, Ellsbury, Sweeney on opening day. August is a tough one. I suppose you could throw the Red Sox into the Andre Ethier pool, but I'm not convinced the Dodgers will trade him, nor that the Red Sox will look to acquire him. (R.J. Anderson)

Robinson has more than a year at Double-A under his belt, so he's got that over Sands. The problem is that the projections don't exactly paint either as above-average contributors at key offensive positions, so expecting both to break in at the major league level and succeed right now is a tall, tall order. And that's without considering how little experience at first base Ethier has. (Jay Jaffe)

There's a lot to be excited about with this year's rookie class (Posey, Heyward, Santana, Stanton) but I'm in no rush to appoint them the best class of the past five years until I see much more. (Jay Jaffe)

do you have any idea how the BP monte carlo report has the phillies winning the NLCS almost 2/3 of the time? that seems extremely strange.(amr2002 from philly)

I expect the quality of Lee and Happ (and Hamels) compares rather well to the Dodgers' comparative mere adequacy in the rotation makes a big difference. It might also involve the effective deletion of Andre Ethier for the series as a result of not getting to see many right-handed pitching. That's just WAG, of course. (Christina Kahrl)

How would Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier fit into your analysis of outfielders to take over Markakis? Do either of make it, they would at least be in the conversation wouldn't they?(ssjames from Orange, CA)

Ethier, no, as he's too old without the upside. I considered Kemp, though. He'd be in the discussion. (Joe Sheehan)

Hi Joe, thanks for the chat. If you had a vote, would Manny Ramirez crack your top 10 for the NL MVP?(jtrichey from Indianapolis)

Without looking, I'll say "no." There are so many players having strong seasons in the NL that I can't see Ramirez, with negative defensive value, beating out 10 of them in full-season value. I mean, wouldn't you have to put Andre Ethier--who's matched Ramirez's performance at the plate since the trade, runs circles around him defensively and was there all year--ahead of Ramirez? (Joe Sheehan)

Can you address the Dodgers situation? Re-signing Nomar? Bringing in Andruw Jones to push Kemp even farther down the depth chart? Where does Delwyn Young play (if in the majors)? How about Hu? It seems like they have a MLB-ready prospect pushing up at every position. (Peter from Staten Island)

Hey Pete!

You're right in that the Dodger system is loaded. GM Ned Colletti seems to have a knack for finding a veteran stiff to throw in the way of every near-ready prospect.

That said, the Dodgers didn't hesitate to push Nomar off 1B when James Loney got hot for them last year, and it's clear they now think of Kemp as a RF rather than a CF. It's Andre Ethier who's likely feeling the biggest pinch in the outfield right now.

As for Delwyn Young, that's a good question. He was moved off 2B because he wasn't considered an adequate defender (-14 FRAA at Double-A in 2005), and while he may help there in a pinch, long term he's going to need an outfield spot. I don't think that will happen for him in LA barring a slew of injuries; the best he can hope for is that as a switch-hitter he becomes a staple of the team's bench. (Jay Jaffe)

BP Roundtables

Kind of cool to see Hong-Chih Kuo here. Not that having a setup man on an All-Star roster isn't a stretch, but given all the arm troubles he's overcome and how dominant he can be when he's healthy, I'm happy to see anything good come his way. (Jay Jaffe)

Comparing Andre Ethier to Paul O'Neill: I don't think O'Neill ever hit as badly against lefties as Ethier did this year: .194/.283/.345. Not that Paul was exactly great against them... .248/.312/.387. (Steven Goldman)